Organisers discuss turning a profit from a festival

Green Man and Sonisphere bosses talk at UK Festival Conference

A part to making your any festival profitable is to, "Try to find out a little bit about everything from recycling to staging
and build up a good relationship with contractors," according Fiona Stewart from Green Man Festival.

Stewart, who was speaking at the UK Festival Conference, cut her teeth with the Big Chill and took her expertise
over to Green Man when it was founded.

Being in it for the long game paid off but Stewart can’t
understand how festivals can’t turn a profit in five years.

Stuart Galbraith from Kilamanjaro
doesn’t think big always means most profitable. “Wakestock makes more money for me than Sonisphere […]
with Sonisphere we realised that we were entering into a competitive market and this year we may turn profit, which is 18
months before we anticipated.”

Even if you’re a small festival you can gain benefits by appearing
big. Jim Mawdsley from Generator pushed the “wide ranging benefits” of joining the Association
of Independent Festivals. Here contractors and creatives get the opportunity to pitch to the board with an eye kept
on the price.